Over the past thirty years, while the United States has turned either a blind or dismissive eye, Iran has emerged as a nation every bit as capable of altering America’s destiny as traditional superpowers Russia and China. Indeed, one of this book’s central arguments is that, in some ways, Iran’s grip on America’s future is even tighter.
As ex–CIA operative Robert Baer masterfully shows, Iran has maneuvered itself into the elite superpower ranks by exploiting Americans’ false perceptions of what Iran is—by letting us believe it is a country run by scowling religious fanatics, too preoccupied with theocratic jostling and terrorist agendas to strengthen its political and economic foundations.
The reality is much more frightening—and yet contained in the potential catastrophe is an implicit political response that, if we’re bold enough to adopt it, could avert disaster.
Baer’s on-the-ground sleuthing and interviews with key Middle East players—everyone from an Iranian ayatollah to the king of Bahrain to the head of Israel’s internal security—paint a picture of the centuries-old Shia nation that is starkly the opposite of the one normally drawn. For example, Iran’s hate-spouting President Ahmadinejad is by no means the true spokesman for Iranian foreign policy, nor is Iran making it the highest priority to become a nuclear player.
Even so, Baer has discovered that Iran is currently engaged in a soft takeover of the Middle East, that the proxy method of war-making and co-option it perfected with Hezbollah in Lebanon is being exported throughout the region, that Iran now controls a significant portion of Iraq, that it is extending its influence over Jordan and Egypt, that the Arab Emirates and other Gulf States are being pulled into its sphere, and that it will shortly have a firm hold on the world’s oil spigot.
By mixing anecdotes with information gleaned from clandestine sources, Baer superbly demonstrates that Iran, far from being a wild-eyed rogue state, is a rational actor—one skilled in the game of nations and so effective at thwarting perceived Western colonialism that even rival Sunnis relish fighting under its banner.
For U.S. policy makers, the choices have narrowed: either cede the world’s most important energy corridors to a nation that can match us militarily with its asymmetric capabilities (which include the use of suicide bombers)—or deal with the devil we know. We might just find that in allying with Iran, we’ll have increased not just our own security but that of all Middle East nations.The alternative—to continue goading Iran into establishing hegemony over the Muslim world—is too chilling to contemplate.
From the Hardcover edition.
如果说中国的奸佞要拉去枪毙,那么美国的奸佞拉出去枪毙十次都不过分。
一个落后的资本主义保守派。
在他的眼中,status quo只不过是一种政治游戏罢了。
评分
评分
评分
评分
这部作品的基调非常低沉,像一部浸透了雨水的旧照片,色彩褪去,只留下深刻的纹理和轮廓。我特别欣赏作者在不刻意煽情的前提下,成功地唤起了读者对受害者群体的深切共情。那种情感的渗透是潜移默化的,它不是通过大声的控诉来实现的,而是通过那些被忽略的、被边缘化的人物生活片段中,那种日常的、琐碎的,却又充满绝望的坚持来达到的。这本书的节奏感很特别,它不像快节奏的动作片那样让你肾上腺素飙升,而更像是一场缓慢升温的慢炖,温度持续升高,直到你意识到自己已经被彻底煮透了。它对细节的痴迷令人称奇,无论是对特定行业术语的运用,还是对某个城市角落的精准描摹,都显示出作者做了大量扎实的研究。如果你期待的是那种轻松愉快的阅读体验,那可能会失望,但如果你想体验一次深刻的、关于社会责任和良知拷问的旅程,那么这本书是你不能错过的。
评分说实话,我一开始是被这个标题吸引的,感觉充满了某种宿命论的意味,读完之后才明白,这个标题的重量远超我的想象。这本书最让我印象深刻的是其对“系统性错误”的描绘,它不是关于某一个坏蛋的个人故事,而是一幅关于集体失能的宏大画卷。作者似乎对官僚主义的僵化流程和社会结构中的盲点有着非凡的洞察力,他将这些宏观概念巧妙地融入到微观的人物互动之中,使得整个故事既有史诗般的广度,又不失个人情感的细腻。阅读过程中,我不得不时常停下来,合上书本,思考现实中是否存在类似的“我们都知道,但没人敢说”的困境。它的叙事结构非常巧妙,采用了多视角交织的方式,每一次视角的转换都像是在黑暗中打开一扇新的窗户,让你看到问题的另一个侧面,虽然看到的可能依然是阴影。对于那些厌倦了平面化叙事的读者来说,这本书提供了一种结构复杂但逻辑严密的阅读体验,它挑战你的智力,也挑战你的道德底线。
评分这本小说给我带来了一种久违的、深入骨髓的战栗感,它没有诉诸廉价的恐怖桥段,而是通过一种近乎冷酷的现实主义笔触,将人性的阴暗面赤裸裸地剖开。作者对于叙事节奏的把控简直是大师级的,前半部分的铺陈犹如一张密不透风的网,每一个看似不经意的细节,都在为后来的骤变埋下伏笔。我特别欣赏它对环境氛围的营造,那种弥漫在字里行间,令人窒息的压抑感,仿佛你我正身处那个故事发生地,连呼吸都变得小心翼翼。角色的塑造立体得让人心惊,他们不是非黑即白的符号,而是充满了矛盾与挣扎的真实个体,你甚至会在某个瞬间,对那个做出最令人发指行为的人产生一丝莫名的同情。尤其是在揭示了驱动这一切的深层社会机制时,那种无力感和对既有秩序的深刻质疑,让人读完后久久无法释怀,必须得停下来,去审视自己周围的世界。这本书的后劲太大了,它不是那种读完就忘的消遣,而是一剂猛药,逼迫你直面那些隐藏在光鲜外表下的丑陋真相。我强烈推荐给那些喜欢深度心理惊悚和对人性复杂性有兴趣的读者,准备好迎接一场精神上的洗礼吧。
评分我很少能找到一本能将如此复杂的主题处理得如此优雅而又毫不留情的小说。它的文字密度极高,但又不像某些晦涩难懂的文学作品那样故作高深;相反,作者的语言精准、锋利,像手术刀一样切开事件的表象,直达核心。我特别喜欢作者在描述主角心路历程时所采用的那种内省式的、近乎诗意的独白,它与外部世界残酷的冲突形成了强烈的张力。读到中间部分时,我发现自己几乎是屏住呼吸一口气读完的,那种悬念的堆叠不是靠突如其来的转折,而是通过逻辑链条的不断收紧,让你清晰地预见到灾难的降临,却又无能为力。更值得称赞的是,它避免了传统惊悚小说中常见的“大团圆”结局,而是提供了一种更贴近真实、更令人深思的收尾。这种处理方式显得极其成熟和负责任,它没有简单地给你一个答案,而是抛出了更多值得推敲的问题。这本书无疑是今年我看过的最有文学价值和思想深度的作品之一,绝对值得反复品读,每次都会有新的体会。
评分读完这部小说,我感到一种彻底的震撼,不是因为情节有多么离奇,而是因为它将一种可能性——那种我们都倾向于忽略、希望它永远不会降临的可能性——写得如此真实可信。作者的文风极其克制,冷静得近乎冷血,这反而增强了故事的恐怖效果。他没有使用过多的形容词来渲染恐惧,而是依赖于事件本身发生时的逻辑推演和人物在巨大压力下的反应来营造氛围。这种“写实”的手法使得读者很难将故事与现实完全割裂开来,总觉得书中的情境随时可能在某个我们不经意的角落上演。我尤其欣赏它对“沉默的共谋”这一主题的探讨,它深刻地揭示了维护表面平静所付出的巨大代价,以及个体在面对巨大惯性时的无力感。这本书的优点在于它既能满足对紧张情节的期待,又能提供深刻的社会批判视角,它做到了商业性和艺术性的完美平衡。这是一部需要细细品味,并且强烈推荐所有成年人阅读的力作。
评分 评分 评分 评分 评分本站所有内容均为互联网搜索引擎提供的公开搜索信息,本站不存储任何数据与内容,任何内容与数据均与本站无关,如有需要请联系相关搜索引擎包括但不限于百度,google,bing,sogou 等
© 2026 book.wenda123.org All Rights Reserved. 图书目录大全 版权所有